The U.S. Department of Education announced Friday the publication of final changes made to the Clery Act by the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013. The new changes include requiring institutions to report incidents of stalking and incorporate a statement of policy about programs aimed at curbing dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking in its annual security report.
The combination of the new changes and existing standards aim to render the Clery Act more effective to address sexual violence on college campuses.
The Clery Act requires institutions of higher education in the United States to disclose crimes which occur either on campus, on public property adjacent to or within campus, or in campus-affiliated properties.
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Under Secretary Ted Mitchell and Lynn Mahaffie, acting assistant secretary for postsecondary education, held a press call Friday, opening the floor for questions about the updated requirements.
“The Department has the responsibility to ensure that all students have the opportunity to learn and grow in a safe environment,” Mitchell said.
In addition to the new stalking requirements, the changes also mandate the inclusion of gender identity and national origin as categories of bias that serve as the determination of a hate crime.
“Hopefully it'll help bring … issues more into the national discourse and give more attention to issues like intimate partner violence at U.Va.,” said third-year College student Sara Surface, the external chair of the Sexual Violence Prevention Coalition. “I'm happy to see that the issue of sexual assault is finally getting the attention it deserves. It's good to see [the Department of Education] tackling the issue, but there will always be tensions when the people making policy aren't the ones actually working on the ground with the issue.”
Surface said there is much work to be done in regards to definitions of consent and how colleges can apply these definitions.
The final rule will not go into effect until July 1, 2015. It will be formally published in the Federal Register on Monday, Oct. 20. Because VAWA statutory provisions are currently in effect, institutions are expected to make a good faith effort to comply with the requirements.
Duncan said he does not know if there would be any fines levied against schools that do not include certain categories, such as domestic violence and stalking, in their reports before July 1.
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